Advice for my Muscle Building

I guess my first question is why do you think you need to go to the gym more?? What you need to do is just hit the gym 2x a week and increase the workload and intensity of what you do. Muscles do not grow in the gym, they grow when you are not working out. Most people train too much, eat too little, and don't lift heavy enough. That and throw away the BB magazines as their workouts are not for people who need to build muscle, it's for BB's that want to look a certain way and eat 5000cal a day (with some additional "supplements" they use).

Your exercises should never be on a machine and should be compound movements like the squat, lunge, deadlift, bench, dips, overhead press and pullups. Do sets with reps from 5-10 on those movements 2x a week, eat and recover....you will get plenty of muscle.

Here's a good overview as well
http://projectfit.org/iflifeblog/2008/03/10/building-muscle-101-master-the-basics/

thank you very much for that advice... i think definately one of the things i need to work on most is my nutrition and eating habits...

though i eat fairly healthy food... my schedule and amounts of eating don't seem to be tha good. usually eating a small amount of large meals a day at irregular times...

Nutrition is 85% of weight loss or gain....so yes it is important to look there no matter what your goal is. Sleep is also important...as many people lack good quality sleep which can only help you burn fat and build muscle. It's really so simple but most everyone makes it overly complicated. Stick with the basics and you will definitely see results.

Razo, Mike nailed it about sleep and diet...they are as, if not more, important than what you do in the gym. What does your diet look like? Can you give us a rundown of your daily eating?

well, i wake up at 4.45am and anytime between 5 until sometimes about 9, i have breakfast (which is way too long a wait in my opinion)... usually since i've been living with my family my whole life so far... I've grown up having just two main meals a day (dinner and lunch being essentially the same thing.. and that can happen anytime between 3-8) so by that i just have random snacks in between... i don't feel this is a good thing...

We eat particularly good foods (except sometimes my snacks), but the times in which we have it probably aren't so nice to my metabolism. sometimes i'll starve myself for hours until dinner, sometimes i pig out like crazy...

I need to start being more proactive about the meals that i have... I'm starting to learn to cook some things and make my own meals... but i'm still trying to get that into a habit and have meal times at around consistently the same times daily....


also, sometimes i sleep very little hours... but most of the time i sleep sufficiently and i have almost no trouble getting to sleep...

what are your opinions in this matter??


thank you very much for all the advice so far :) i'll definately keep these things in mind.

What types of food are you eating at your meals? What would a normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner look like for you? What do you eat for snacks?

my breakfast is usually just cereal and fruits, sometimes i'll have eggs and mushrooms...

lunch widly varies, sometimes it might just be noodles, sandwiches, chips, anything really, which isn't that good.

for dinner its usually rice, vegetables/salad, and meat/chicken/fish (one of those combinations)

Remember building muscle is more about diet and lifestyle than exercise....so focus on where it counts otherwise you are just wasting time at the gym. Keep it simple...workout 2x a week....go heavy reps 5-10, do compound movements to start (squat/deadlift) and then eat eat eat and sleep sleep sleep. You grow outside the gym, not in it....so hence more time in the gym isn't going to get you there. You will need more protein, little protein=little muscles. At least get up to 0.8-1gram/lb of bodyweight per day. That's alot of protein....so yes it will take some effort. Sleep stimulates muscle sparing and muscle building....so if you are not getting sleep you are just breaking down more muscle and not building up muscle that well....not a good equation. Hope that helps get you on your way. Also higher fat diet helps spare nitrogen retention which means less muscle loss. 30%+ of your diet should come from healthy fats like Olive Oil, Grass fed Eggs and Beef (if you are not a vegetarian), Omega 3s from fish/fishoil, Avacado, Grass fed Butter and other nuts/nut butters. Here's a good read on fats. http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html

Good post Mike. He's not a vegetarian as he says he eats eggs, meat, chicken, and fish. Razo, Mike has it right. Lots of protein and fat will help you build muscle. Fat isn't the dangerous killer substance we've been led to believe it is. Make sure you're eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Especially replace the chips at lunch with some kind of produce.

Definitely no need to focus on more time in the gym. If hypertrophy (muscle growth) is your goal, making the most of less time in the gym is a better strategy. Check out this series of articles on Tim Ferriss's blog. While his results are perhaps exaggerated, the guidelines are solid. I would also suggest, as the others have, using multi-joint movements like the squat, deadlift, pullup, row, etc.

Diet is key too, of course. Check out recipes at BrickhouseBodymind.com for some healthy and tasty ideas. Also, for fast results, I'd recommend something similar to the TNT diet. Make sure you're getting enough quality protein - 1 gram per pound of bodyweight, if you're really trying to gain muscle mass.

peace...

Good read i should try some of the things my self. thx for sharing :).